Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

43 reviews

rnfortier's review

challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Am intense read but one that so so important.
This book is grounded in the realities of our criminal justice system, so much so that it presents a future that seems not that far off given the rate of incarceration (particularly BIPOC) in the US.
Thoughtfully presented and so well researched, but the author humanizes his characters in such a tragic way you can’t help but love them as the wade through a murder forward “justice” system.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Medical trauma, Death, Body horror, Racism, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Racial slurs, and Sexual violence

smileymiley550's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Slavery, Body horror, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Grief, Police brutality, Gore, Racism, Classism, Confinement, Physical abuse, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Self harm

joensign's review

challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Police brutality, Racism, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Violence, Suicide, Child death, Murder, Torture, and Death

Moderate: Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual violence, Body horror, and Domestic abuse

rainbopagn's review

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This is a book that will make you rethink everything you feel and know about the American justice system. This should be required reading. The way you go back and forth between perspectives and the way they come together in the final pages... its beautiful storytelling. It is also vicious and violent, much like the real life justice system. The way the author pulls in real people and real statistics is an homage to those who have been unfairly and unjustly treated.  


SPOILERS in
3

2

1

I am more than a little pissed that Thurwar killed Staxxx. I had expected them to go out together, mortally wounding each other. I understand the meaning of the full circle moment but it still annoyed me.     

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Police brutality, Violence, Body horror, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Homophobia, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Self harm, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Hate crime

Moderate: Abandonment, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Ableism, Rape, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Gun violence, and Infidelity

Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Medical trauma, and Cursing

princess_marie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Torture, Death, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, and Racism

Moderate: Racial slurs, Suicide, and Self harm

Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, and Domestic abuse

kaitlinreads17's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I rate this book a 6

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, Classism, Suicide, Sexism, Racism, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Death, Torture, Gore, Grief, and Police brutality

xelainthevoid's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Confinement, and Cursing

Moderate: Body horror and Mental illness

lisacanteven's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book was way out of my comfort zone, but I think I did well with it. CGAS is a character driven story that takes us through an alternate future (or is it?) of what the beast of the prison industrial system becomes, where inmates fight each other gladiator style to the death for three years to earn their early freedom. The reader is left with the question, does prison really reform a person if they are forced to kill others for sport? This book just proves that prison is not about reforming a person; it never has been. In this future, prison evolves to be about entertainment for the masses. Prison is no longer just about slave labor and capital punishment- now there is sport about it. 

Each chapter is aptly named instead of numbered- most chapters are pretty short. Each chapter also contains a specific POV, one that takes a little bit of reading into the chapter before you figure it out. I felt like the first half of the book I was being introduced to new characters every few chapters just to never hear from them again. This is the reason I couldn't give CGAS a perfect rating. I just felt lost sometimes. Even at the end of the book, I had to read the ending a few times just to make sure I had a solid grasp on how it ended. 

As far as character development goes, this was brilliantly done. I felt like I was there with the characters at times, and because of this I feel like a sequel would be great. There is much more to do in this alternate future (hopefully) to do to make things right. 

What I did find very unique to this book was the footnotes. The author included footnotes, some related to the story, while some were plucked from our reality and given as facts to educate the reader on just how close this is to becoming our future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Police brutality, Blood, Grief, Racial slurs, Classism, Death, Murder, Gore, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Torture, Body horror, Racism, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Hate crime, Misogyny, and Racism

embel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Violence, Body horror, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Suicide, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Gore, Blood, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Homophobia, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Misogyny, Racial slurs, Rape, and Sexism

amalas_bookstop's review

adventurous dark informative tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Solid 3.5⭐️ rounded up.

Quick summary about this dystopian world. Imagine a reality where prisoners are given a pathway to total freedom. Catch is they have to fight to the death on a program called Criminal Action Penal Entertainment program, CAPE for short. I will warn this is a pretty violent book. From the first chapter to the last you are in battle whether in the ring or as a protestor.

There were some total wins, that I loved.

1. This book will open up tons of thought and conversation when it comes to capital punishment and our current criminal justice system. 

2. I really enjoyed the footnotes in this book. The author used them to explains laws, codes, facts about the prison facilities, and extra anecdotes about a murderd prisoner. It was really well done.

3. The book really reads like you were watching the games on tv. I could really see this book becoming a movie someday. It was a very entertaining read.

Some things that were missing in my opinion.

I wanted more back story or dialogue on the main characters in this book. While this book is very violent and heart wrenching at times, I had a hard time connecting all the way through. I think it was because the author focused more on the world and the message, that he did not give me enough about the characters. Some of the chapters were really short and hard for me to keep up sometimes. I read somewhere that the author started with short stories and that is evident in the book. Some of these chapters definitely read like a short story.

I would still totally recommend this book especially if you are someone who enjoys a dystopian read. I did have a good time reading this and the author did a really good job getting his message across. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Classism, Cursing, Death, Police brutality, Body horror, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Racism, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Gore, and Murder